fever | ateez lore story

CH 18

jongho

"Song Mingi!" Hongjoong howls, his eyes shadowed with anger. Never once have I seen Hongjoong this enraged, nor Mingi socriminal-looking.

After Hongjoong's name-calling, Mingi's fist levitates in the air, Min-J emitting a waterfall of pleases. Silence falls among us and after a minute or two, Mingi drops Min-J back down on the concrete. Wooyoung pushes past me and Yunho and scrambles outside, the sound of gagging and throwing up unwantingly filling the silence. Seonghwa follows Wooyoung, ripping a water bottle out from his backpack and giving it to Wooyoung.

"Get out of here, Min-J." Hongjoong commands, the kindness and softness in his voice being replaced with an angry growl. Min-J struggles to his feet, consistently falling before Yunho runs to his aid. I want to help, too, but my feet are bolted to the floor - I can't bare to be near Mingi as of right now. San grabs Min-J's arm and helps his exit.

"And not a word of this to anyone." Hongjoong demands, resulting in Min-J nodding his head in urgent understanding before San brings him home.

I can't believe this shit.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Hongjoong's class captainism echoes. The expletive throws me off, his clean mouth suddenly going dirty.

I can't even explain the emotions I feel right now. Part of me wants to believe this is some sick joke, or a nightmare, or anything unreal. As delusion as I want to stay, the crimson blood dripping from Mingi's knuckles proves this to be all too real. Mingi says nothing to Hongjoong, his teeth chewing on the bottom of his bruised lips.

"Mingi, what did you do?" I say too quietly, thinking he wouldn't hear me. I tense my shoulders when I see Mingi's gaze pierce through me, knowing he heard me 100%, yet, gives me no answer. Everyone can ask the same question to Mingi and he would not give an answer. He doesn't have one.

For a minute, I'm a kid, again. I'm surrounded by my teachers and the other kids on the playground after I hit a kid in the face with my basketball, just because he tried to take it. I remember the consistent, painful flood of the same damn question being asked to me; "what did you do, Jongho?" There was a simple answer, yet, I never gave it. There is no excuse to bad actions, and for Mingi, nothing in the world will ever help him recover from this.

"Mingi!" Hongjoong yells again, hoping to be heard. I mirror Mingi's flinch, and I start to pick at the skin of my nails to fill in the emptiness, and to hopefully wake me up if this is a dream.

"Is this what you planned with Min-J, this morning? To meet him here so you can almost kill the damn guy?" Yunho questions, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. I'm mentally telling Mingi not to fight back, especially with the class captain and his assistant standing in front of him, 2 against 1. I watch as Mingi hesitates to answer, my telepathy with him cutting short.

-"I wanted to teach him a lesson."

"That's not your job to do, Song, that's mine!" Hongjoong's yelling contrasts so painfully to Mingi's soft voice. As much as I want to feel bad for him, he's still the same Song Mingi everyone in the school fears. I look over at Yeosang, watching as he makes eye contact with Mingi before he turns to check up on Wooyoung outside. I bring myself to approach Mingi, not too close, but close enough.

"You did not need to do this, Mingi. Are you okay?" I ask, grief and concern evident in my voice. When he looks over at me, tears are fighting to fall, and a pang of guilt hits me. Looking at someone so intimidating become so fragile, its a different kind of sympathy.

"I-I wanted to get back at him after what he did to you, Yunho." he explains. Like I said, no matter what he says or does will not bring him back from this. Yunho's face contorts into disturbance, a scoff leaving his mouth.

"You thought I wanted this? We've been friends for years, yet, you don't know me at all." his voice cracks with sadness, seeing his best friend give him false hope of some kind of development. Silence falls among us again, everyone incapable of finding something to say, until an urgent phone call sounds from Yunho's pocket. He hastily fumbles for his phone, ripping it out and answering it.

"Hello?" his voice drops a little in volume, sounding softer and calmer as if he didn't just scream his head off just a couple minutes ago. The warehouse is so quiet, we can hear the mumbling on the other line. The angered contortion on his face slowly unfolds, his breathing becoming heavier and heavier the longer this conversation goes on. His eyes widen, and a quiet, shaky "huh?" sounds from him. We watch with concern at the sudden change in his persona, before he breaks into a sprint, pushing past me and Hongjoong in a hurry. He runs out the warehouse like he's being chased, his heavy steps fading the further away he runs.

I have never seen Yunho like this before; so urgent and so intense. I look over at Hongjoong, who mirrors the look Yunho's face painted before he dashed off.

"What happened, hyung?" I ask, my ears itching for a response. He doesn't look present, his mind obviously very occupied. Hongjoong skips a breath, attempting to swallow a large lump forming in his throat before answering me.

-"Yunho's brother was in an accident. It...it sounds serious."